With the advent of new and different home networking technologies, e.g. Multi-media Over Coaxial Alliance (MOCA), Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HPNA), High-definition Audio-video Network Alliance (HANA), etc., the ability to rapidly characterize a network of home wiring, particularly coaxial cabling, is becoming more critical to enable technicians to determine what portions, if any, of a client's home network are suitable for certain end devices, e.g. Set Top Boxes (STB), Cable Modems etc.
The installer's primary interest is in determining the amount of RF attenuation among the wiring endpoints, at which the end devices, e.g. an STB, are going to be placed. Should the measured attenuation be too great, the first troubleshooting step is to determine the topology of the network, i.e. the length of the wiring, and the components in the wiring, such as splitters, diplexers, amplifiers, etc., and, if possible, the loss through each of these components.
Prior art testing systems, such as those disclosed in United States Patent Publication 2003/0037292, entitled Remote Management and Analysis Techniques in Home Phoneline Networks, published Feb. 20, 2003 in the name of Bullman et al., provide a frequency response of the network under test, but do not characterize individual sections of the network. United States Patent Publication 2006/0274673, entitled Method for Determining Connection Topology of Home Network, published Dec. 7, 2006 in the name of Fleury et al., discloses characterizing all of the nodes in a home network by sending test signals therebetween, but does not characterize network sections between endpoints.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a test system that measures individual path loss at a particular frequency between different endpoints in a home network, for determining the presence of network components therein, and for determining the suitability of the endpoints to support various end devices.